


Favorite Roanoke

by Glowcloudwasright



Series: Lumberjanes Week 2020 [1]
Category: Lumberjanes
Genre: Day 1, Gen, Jen Centered, Lumberjanes week 2020, Zodiacs mentioned, bending todays prompt to my will cause I cant choose a favorite, favorite roanoke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:00:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25242790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowcloudwasright/pseuds/Glowcloudwasright
Summary: Jen has a rather difficult choice to make.
Relationships: Jen & The Roanokes (Lumberjanes), The Roanokes & The Zodiacs (Lumberjanes)
Series: Lumberjanes Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1828696
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	Favorite Roanoke

**Author's Note:**

> It's Lumberjanes Week yallllll Im so excited

Jen walked back with her lunch tray to the counselors table, like every other day. Counselors would usually sit on the back of the Mess Hall, catching a well-deserved break from their duties. It was nice, in Jen’s opinion. She would usually sit with other counselors around her age, most of whom where rather new to the experience like her. There were some exceptions of course, like the daughters or granddaughters of past Lumberjanes on their third or fourth summer counseling campers.

“We totally wiped the floor with you guys at softball.” One of the counselors said.

“Yeah well, we still beat you up last week at soccer!”

Jen and the other counselors simply laughed along at the usual well spirited cabin rivalry.

“Look at the friendship bracelet my girls made. They’ve improved so much.” Dana, the counselor of Roswell cabin said and other counselors commented on the adorable gesture from her campers.

Jen liked talking with the other counselors, but when the topic of daily activities came around there usually wasn’t much she could add to the conversation. What could she talk about? The very against the rules chase through the woods they had had because the girls assured her they saw a fairy near the old creek? Or the arts and crafts project that had turned into a glitter bomb Jen was pretty sure violated the Geneva Convention? Those had been her cabin’s most prominent activities of the week, and mind you, it was barely Tuesday.

As much fun as Jen and her girls had on the daily, she sometimes wished they could do normal camp activities, like the rest of the cabins.

“Jen?” One of the counselors was asking her a question. She must have zoned out, because the question hadn’t registered at all.

“Sorry, what?” Jen asked, slightly ashamed about spacing out.

“We asked if you’ve picked your favorite camper yet.”

The question struck Jen. “A what?”

Some of the more experienced counselors exchanged a look.

“Oh right, we forget this is your first year.” One of them said.

“It’s kind of a tradition. By the end of the summer one camper assigned under your charge is awarded the “protégé” badge.”

“We joke around and call them the favorites.”

“But I thought that badge was mostly for campers who wanted to come back to camp as counselors.” Jen said, fairly confused at the use of the word “favorite”:

“I mean, yeah. But that’s still your protégé, kind of the camper you vibe the most with.” Another counselor explained nonchalantly.

Dana most have picked up on Jen’s expression, because she then rushed to explain Jen’s main concern.

“Hey, it’s just a silly tradition. We don’t actually play favorites or anything.” This made Jen relax a little. She always made sure to treat all campers equally, even amongst her girls.

“But-“Another counselor added. “If you spend your whole summer with a bunch of pre-teens you kind of start to want to scream.” The counselors laughed and Jen couldn’t really argue with that.

“There’s always one of them in your cabin you just kind of like better.”

“Yeah, maybe it’s the one that has the most things in common with you.”

“Or the only one that actually behaves.” The comment made all the other counselors laugh again but Jen still had a puzzled expression on her face.

The conversation was suddenly cut short by a loud crash from across the Mess Hall, which made everyone turn their attention towards none other than the Roanoke cabin table, for about the third time that summer.

“Sorry!” April’s voice echoed and Jen didn’t even brother containing her frustrated sigh.

Jen excused herself and stood up from her table, ready to go over there and see what they would have to clean up today.

“I’m guessing not that’s not the one.” Jen heard the comment by the same counselor who made the question as she walked away, not sure about why it bugged her so much.

Jen eyed the incident before being pulled into a hug by Ripley, who apologized profusely with the rest of her cabin mates about the mess of mash potatoes, cutlery and broken plates. Jen simply sighed, the hint of a small smile tugging at her lips, and proceeded to look for the cleaning supplies to sort that mess out before Rosie saw it.

“Care to explain what your plan was exactly?” Jen asked as she assigned cleaning utensils to each girl.

“We were trying to make a mash potato model of the camp grounds.” April explained like it was the most logical thing to do during lunch.

“When we got to the forest ranger tower it started wobbling. It… might have been too tall.” Jo continued.

“I told them the spoons foundations were off.” Mal explained as they all got to work.

“Maybe if we used tea spoons…” Jen stopped her cleaning when Molly offered that, ready to start her lecture on why mash potato architecture was a bad idea.

Then the camp bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, although most campers and counselors were already done with their lunches and out of the Mess Hall.

The mashed potato mess had been mostly taken care of, so they were still on schedule for their daily activities, but still the words “favorite” swarmed in Jen’s mind. It was true that she would have to award the protégé badge to one of her girls, but she didn’t think it carried such weight. Jen didn’t even know if one of her girls would want to be counselor in the future like Hes or other campers, she wasn’t even sure they knew the badge existed.

Well, that wasn’t true. April probably knew, since she had memorized every single badge earnable for a Lumberjane. Because April loved camp so much.

She loved every minute of it, and often mentioned how she had set her mind on earning every possible badge on the scout’s handbook. And honestly? Jen believed her. If someone would be able to do that it was April, who was so set on her goals, so driven and energetic. Jen admired that on the little girl.

That and her scrapbooking abilities.

As the Roanokes made their way to their next activities Jen wondered if maybe April would be her ~~favorite~~ protégé. She would certainly appreciate the badge and maybe she would like to come back on a later summer as counselor, the most bestowed counselor or probably the youngest, no common titles for the ginger girl. But then again, she wasn’t sure. Besides, April’s more athletic nature had driven her more towards Rosie for a mentor; maybe she would even award her the badge. 

Or not, who knew. But most importantly, how could Jen choose?

Jen interrupted her train of thoughts when her girls said their goodbyes, dispersing around camp for their respective activities, leaving Jen alone with her thoughts once more.

She thought again of what the counselor said.

_Maybe it’s the one you have the most in common with._

Of course Jen loved all her girls, but like she said before, she and April didn’t have that much in common.

If she were to pick someone to fill that category it would probably be Jo, with whom she had spent countless hours talking about distant celestial bodies, dying stars and scientific discoveries. It was nice to have someone to talk with about all those things, back home no one really paid attention to that or simply thought it was boring.

With Jo it was the opposite, this little girl knew so much about the topic and even lent Jen some really amazing and, to be honest, very difficult books about astrophysics that Jo considered light summer readings.

But then again, Jen knew Jo wasn’t exactly planning on being a counselor. Jo herself wasn’t even sure she would be back to camp next summer. They had all talked about it one night during a bonfire, and Jo had mentioned, with a hint of sadness, how her dads had lots of plans for her and her bright future. Of course she was grateful for the opportunities, but even Jen could see those were some very serious plans that no child should be even beginning to think about, like university and internships. 

Still, Jen had met Jo’s dads, they weren’t bad people, not even that strict of parents, so who knew what could happen. Anyway things played out in the end, she hoped whatever Jo chose to do would make her happy.

Jen walked around the camp grounds for a moment, trying to clear her head of the thought about that dreaded badge. Was this as hard for the other counselors? It certainly didn’t seem like it.

Jen stopped by the soccer field, where Mal was playing with Hes, Mackenzie and some other girls. A group of much younger girls, around 12 and 11 years old formed the majority of Mal’s team, and Jen couldn’t help but smile at how Mal acted like a proud mom every time one of her girls scored or made a good pass. In return, most of the girls flocked around Mal like excited butterflies, earning a string of high fives from the older girl.

Mal would make an excellent counselor if she wanted to; she was great with little kids. She was so patient and organized and probably the only Roanoke who could convince Ripley not to set fire to the cabin every now and again.

But Jen also knew this wasn’t really her passion. Mal loved camp, despite the many life threatening adventures the girls found themselves in every week, but she was most attached to her music. She had shared with Jen how she wanted to study music composition and make a career out of it, and of course Jen was supportive of her, Mal was a really talented and smart kid.

Jen stood up from the bleachers around the soccer field, still pensive and hating every minute the thought of picking a ~~favorite~~ protégé circled her mind.

After a while she end up walking towards the archery grounds, knowing this because of the old fugitive arrows still stuck to the trees around the vicinities.

“Nice shot, Molly!” She heard one of the counselors shout.

Jen didn’t even need to turn around to know she was talking about her very own Molly, who was deadly with a bow and arrow and had proved it countless times.

She saw as Molly made way for another camper to try their shot, acknowledging the praise with a proud smile and a small blush. Jen remembered the first days of camp, when Molly barely participated in the activities and was always nervous around people, especially the counselors. She had come so far from that shy girl, always trying to blend in the background, and Jen couldn’t be more proud.

Molly truly felt at home here at camp, that was obvious, but a millisecond after Jen thought Molly would be the most likely to be back at camp as a counselor she remembered a rather difficult conversation she had had with Molly about her parents.

Jen and Molly had come to talk rather frequently about a variety of topics, like books, history, camp or just their lives in general.

That particular conversation started by Molly saying her parents weren’t even aware of what the camp actually was. They thought they were sending Molly to a proper ladies camp, probably led on by the long title on the brochure. Of course, Molly didn’t bother correct them, and after parents’ day, Jen couldn’t really blame her; they didn’t seem like the type of parents to defy, ever.

Jen wasn’t exactly sure of how was Molly’s situation back home, as she rarely shared anything about it, not even with Mal, so it was safe to say that there was a very slim chance Molly could be back for another summer at camp. It was Jen’s mission to find out more about it, see if she could help her in any way, trying her best no to intrude, of course, but that was beyond any badge to earn or responsibility to bestow.

It was almost time for Jen to go back to her own duties, dictating a workshop of her own back at the Arts and Crafts cabin. Eyeing the list of campers signed up for the activity she saw Ripley’s name scribbled in it, with a little doodle of what looked like Ripley riding a unicorn at the end.

Jen couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips when she saw the doodle. Ripley was so creative and funny, and yes, maybe she had enough energy in her little body to supply and entire city, but she never failed to put a smile on Jen and the people around her, even when Jen was trying her best to put up a tough front to scold her.

Ripley was also probably the camper Jen spent most of her time with, since she and Jen shared an uncanny love for arts and crafts; and because Ripley usually followed Jen around like a chick to her mama. This girl was the closest Jen had ever had to a little sister, and she absolutely swoon when Ripley gifted her cards with way too much glitter and multicolored friendship bracelets.

The little girl also loved being a Lumberjane, even if she had some strong opinions about things like uniforms and curfews, and maybe she was still rather young to be a counselor, but Jen still considered Ripley would appreciate the protégé badge. They had a sort of Batman and Robin relationship already, or so Mal had described. A very disruptive and undisciplined Robin, but still.

Jen sat at one of the wooden craft tables, her head in her hands, and sighting deeply. There was no way in hell she was choosing between her girls.

“Rosie!” Jen’s voice echoed inside the small office, a little louder than she had intended to.

The disruption would have startled anyone, but Rosie sat at her desk like nothing had happened, carving away what looked like a bear with an unlucky salmon on its maul.

“Janine, hello! I see you’ve let yourself in.” Rosie said and Jen, as always, couldn’t tell if it was sarcasm or not.

“It’s Jen. And sorry about that. Can I have a word with you?” Jen placed her hands on the back of the chair opposite to Rosie, now way more nervous than before.

“Of course. Take a seat.” Rosie said and Jen obliged.

“It’s about the protégé badge…” Jen trailed off, as if Rosie wouldn’t know about the badge.

“The protégé badge? But that isn’t awarded until the last day of camp.” Rosie said, putting down her very sharp carving knife. Jen swallowed hard at the sight of it.

“Yes, but I-I don’t… I mean, I believe this badge is… unjust, to some of the c-campers. And, well, I’m sure the Grand Lodge would never intend to have a badge that makes any camper uncomfortable o-or anything, but this-“ Jen could tell she wasn’t making much sense with her rambling, but she wasn’t able to stop either, the words just kept coming out of her mouth.

By Rosie’s puzzled expression, she could tell she wasn’t making nearly as much sense as she thought.

“Let me interrupt you for a second, Janice.” Jen stopped her rambling, thankful for the intervention. “From what I understand, which isn’t really much, you are worried about making some of your campers feel left out or neglected after awarding the protégé badge, is that right?”

Jen didn’t know how she could have possibly gotten everything right from her incoherent rambling, but that description was more accurate than her own thoughts. Was Rosie magical like Nelly? She could think about that later. Jen simply nodded.

“Well, I understand. It’s not a common concern amongst counselors, but it’s very noble of you.”

Jen couldn’t help but feel proud at Rosie’s praise, puffing up her chest slightly.

“But you still need to give the badge to someone, its tradition.”

And just like that Jen felt anxious again.

“But Rosie!” Jen tried to protest, but she was immediately cut off by Rosie standing up from her chair. She was even more menacing standing on her more than 6ft of height.

“Like I said, Jossie, there’s not much I can do.” Rosie started to head for the door, leaving Jen slumped on her chair.

“Although-“ Rosie said, as she opened the door. “We have a certain cabin that has broken tradition by having a fairly young apprentice counselor rather than a traditional counselor. Since they can’t award the badge themselves, perhaps they would appreciate the gesture from their partner cabin.” Rosie shot Jen a barely visible wink as she made her way out of the cabin.

Immediately after, everything connected inside Jen’s head.

“Partner cabin”, Rosie was talking about the Zodiacs, who had been under Hes’ charge since the beginning of the summer, for some reason Jen didn’t quite understand.

And yes, it wasn’t conventional for a cabin to have a fifteen year old counselor, but Hes had done an amazing job leading her cabin. They had brought back the camp’s newspaper, earned the most badges that summer, took over when the sentries almost destroyed camp. Not to mention they had actually managed to bring out Diane’s good side, which was impressive on its own.

Jen often checked up on Hes to make sure the pressure wasn’t too much for the girl. After all, camp was about having fun. And after a rocky start, they had actually become close, not only with Hes, but with all the Zodiacs.

Of course, this weren’t Jen’s campers, but after they had shared so many adventures together, both cabins were certainly close, and Jen had come to love them like little sisters too.

Besides, it was well known around camp that Hes was on a path to be a rather accomplished Lumberjane, just like her mother, her grandmother and many other women in her family. There was no one who deserved that badge the most, and, in Rosie’s opinion, no one better to award it.

Jen seemed to beam once she caught on the insinuation, making a very uncharacteristic dash back to her cabin and shouting a “thanks” back to Rosie.

Rosie stood at the door frame of her cabin, seeing as the young counselor ran back to her cabin excited and the sun started to set.

“This has been a really interesting summer.” Rosie muttered to herself.

And that it was.

**Author's Note:**

> As you can see, I cannot pick a favorite Roanoke


End file.
